Prevention and family support: How well aligned are current family support practices for families at risk of involvement with the care system with the principles and commitments of The Promise, and what barriers to alignment remain?
Background
Scotland’s ambition is for children to be supported to stay within their families wherever it is safe and possible to do so. The overall number of children entering care each year in Scotland is falling, and proportionally more children who do become looked after are living with kinship carers, and fewer are remaining with their parents. These national‑level trends help to understand what is happening, but not how this is being achieved, or the impact on families. To answer that second question, we need better evidence to provide context to national statistics: on the factors that influence whether families can stay together; the support available locally; and the conditions that enable early, preventative help rather than crisis‑driven intervention. Here, prevention is understood primarily in relation to children at risk of entering care and their families, focusing on how earlier identification of unmet need, timely support, and system responses may reduce avoidable escalation to compulsory care.
Next steps
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Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Related UKRI funded projects
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Kinship care re-visited: Using Census 2011 Microdata to Examine and Map the Extent and Nature of Kinship Care Households in the UK
The research project will use microdata from the 2011 Census to provide nationally representative, reliable statistics and maps on the distribution and characteristics of kinship care households in the four countries of ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Bristol
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on kinship care households in the UK, not specifically on family support practices aligned with The Promise.
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Family inclusive policy and practice after 'Think Family'
Although there is a long history of social work and other practitioners involving wider family in trying to resolve difficulties faced by particular family members, the evidence base to support this activity has been rel...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Birmingham
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it discusses family inclusive policy and practice post 'Think Family', but does not directly address alignment with The Promise.
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Comparing health outcomes for care experienced children and children in the general population in Scotland using linked administrative data
Children who are in the care of their local authority (care experienced children, CEC) are one of the most vulnerable groups of people in the society. In 2017 approximately 15,000 children in Scotland were visited by soc...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Glasgow
Why might this be relevant?
Fully relevant as it specifically focuses on comparing health outcomes for care experienced children in Scotland, aligning with the question on family support practices and alignment with The Promise.